Joel K

@JoeW Obviously. But I’m assuming that the laws must have been made in such a way that one party in a war cannot render itself invulnerable to attack by committing war crimes. I’d like to understand how that works in the case I’ve described here.

@NateEldredge But what happens when you are fighting a militant group who doesn’t respect the Geneva Conventions? They are committing war crimes. How do you stop them without committing war crimes yourself?

Yesterday was the last reading of machar chodesh for 18 months - almost, but not quite, the longest possible gap. judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/127330/…

Congrats to @DoubleAA on hitting 100k!

Is it just me, or have we been seeing an uptick in questions with a Christian angle recently?

@DoubleAA v'chein lemar. I tried to get the chazzan to skip tachanun this morning in celebration, but he wasn't having any of it... even when I told him it was also sefeika d'yoma of isru chag of tashlumin of shavuot ;)

@Mithical Thank you!

Does anyone happen to know the copyright status of the manuscripts displayed on the Friedberg Hachi Garsinan project? I'd love to be able to post a screenshot (with attribution) from a manuscript hosted there into one of my answers. I couldn't find anything by doing a quick search of their website for their policy.

@msh210 I'm pretty sure I've heard this tune used primarily (or maybe exclusively) for lecha dodi. Sorry I can't help more than that, but maybe it will point you in the right direction...

prog.co.il/threads/…

Relevant this year:

Wishing you all פורים קטנים שמחים

I'm a founding and current member of the shul

Full dislcosure

@Awtsmoos--עצמות Klal includes any other action which is normally done (in that time and place) דרך חיבת ביאה

@Awtsmoos--עצמות Depending on the culture in which once finds oneself, there may very well be a different between kissing on the lips and on the hand.

@Awtsmoos--עצמות The logical distinction is as the Shach explains regarding 21:1. There are things which are generally done דרך חיבת ביאה. It is foolish and degraded to do these things with an ערווה even without any pleasure.

Nowhere in chapter 21 is simple touching (not חיבוק ונישוק) forbidden if it does not cause pleasure. If you think Rambam holds that way, the onus is on you to prove it.

The things which halacha 1 forbids under לא תקרבו when done for pleasure, are forbidden in halacha 6 (as a מעשה מגונה ומעשה טפשים) when done without pleasure.

@Awtsmoos--עצמות But what does קרבה mean? Presumably (and again I can't prove this but I have learned a lot of Rambam) he is referring to those things described in halacha 1, which come under לא תקרבו. He uses the same examples - חיבוק ונישוק - in halacha 1 and halacha 6.

@Awtsmoos--עצמות it says not to look at any part of her for pleasure. you can't make any kal vachomer from that to touching without pleasure

I was paraphrasing. Rambam in 21:1 tells us that לא תקרבו forbids things which are דברים המביאים לידי גילוי ערוה. Shach says that Rambam is talking about things which are done דרך חיבת ביאה. Examples under discussion there are ביאה דרך אברים and חיבוק ונישוק. The words that don't appear anywhere in Chapter 21 are things like לא יגע בה אפילו באצבע קטנה.

which words don't appear in which halacha?

Halacha 6 is referring to performing an action which would normally be מביא לידי ביאה (hugging and kissing) in a situation where it’s obvious that that won’t happen (eg one’s sister). It says nothing about an act which is not defined as a מביא לידי ביאה

Shach YD 157:10 אף הרמב"ם לא קאמר אלא כשעושה חיבוק ונישוק דרך חיבת ביאה

I can't prove it formally, but it seems pretty clear to me that chapter 21 is discussing actions which in the ordinary way of things are דברים המביאים לידי גילוי ערוה (examples of which are חיבוק ונישוק) and therefore fall under לא תקרבו. I would find it hard to understand how tapping on the shoulder could fall into that category.

Let's make this concrete. Can you tap your wife on the shoulder to attract her attention when she is a niddah? The two halachot you quoted (21:1 and 21:6) would seem to say that is fine. (Hint: it is in fact forbidden, but you're looking in the wrong chapter - try chapter 11.)

What about touching one's wife incidentally when she is a niddah, without deriving any pleasure at all? That doesn't seem to be forbidden according to what you have quoted...

@DoubleAA I wonder if part of the reason for its growth in popularity in the US, is the importing of Israeli Ashkenazi customs back to the diaspora by those who spent time in the Israeli yeshivot. Notwithstanding the Chazon Ish’s opposition, it seems that Israeli Ashkenazi practice when it comes to tachanun was fairly strongly influenced by the existing Sefardic custom.

@setszu But is there anyone who is actually attributing Divine qualities to a human writer?

@setszu If you mix two different schools of thought together, there's a good chance that you will arrive at nonsensical conclusions. Rambam (seems to have) believed that the entire Torah we have today was dictated word for word by G-d. Nothing blasphemous or heretical there. You might believe, based on whatever evidence you find convincing, that parts of the Torah were in fact not dictated by G-d. But why should that affect how we classify Rambam's position? Clearly you believe Rambam is wrong / mistaken, but equally clearly there is no blasphemy or heresy in the position he espouses.

@OliverGoransson I can’t imagine why it should be any different

@OliverGoransson I’m not talking about today, but about yemos hamashiach, as in your question.

What do you think people spoke during the times of Bayis Rishon?

@Dr.Shmuel נוֹדָ֣ע בַּשְּׁעָרִ֣ים בַּעְלָ֑הּ בְּ֝שִׁבְתּ֗וֹ עִם־זִקְנֵי־אָֽרֶץ׃ (Mishlei 31:23)

@DoubleAA תְּהוֹם אֶל תְּהוֹם קוֹרֵא לְקוֹל צִנּוֹרֶיךָ כׇּל מִשְׁבָּרֶיךָ וְגַלֶּיךָ עָלַי עָבָרוּ (Tehillim 42:8)

@msh210 I'm drawing a blank here... not sure there are any pesukim starting with רה

@Dr.Shmuel .נַהַם כַּכְּפִיר אֵימַת מֶלֶךְ מִתְעַבְּרוֹ חוֹטֵא נַפְשׁוֹ (Mishlei 20:2)

@msh210 Ah. Got it

@msh210 Why would Joel 2:17 be relevant?

@DoubleAA רְתֹ֧ם הַמֶּרְכָּבָ֛ה לָרֶ֖כֶשׁ יוֹשֶׁ֣בֶת לָכִ֑ישׁ רֵאשִׁ֨ית חַטָּ֥את הִיא֙ לְבַת־צִיּ֔וֹן כִּי־בָ֥ךְ נִמְצְא֖וּ פִּשְׁעֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (Micha 1:13)

@msh210 Good point! Apologies @Kazibácsi

@Kazibácsi זְעַק וְהֵילֵל בֶּן אָדָם כִּי הִיא הָיְתָה בְעַמִּי הִיא בְּכׇל נְשִׂיאֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מְגוּרֵי אֶל חֶרֶב הָיוּ אֶת עַמִּי לָכֵן סְפֹק אֶל יָרֵךְ. (Yechezkel 21:17)

@Kazibácsi יַכְּכָ֨ה יְהֹוָ֜ה בִּשְׁחִ֤ין מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ (ובעפלים) [וּבַטְּחֹרִ֔ים] וּבַגָּרָ֖ב וּבֶחָ֑רֶס אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־תוּכַ֖ל לְהֵרָפֵֽא׃ (Devarim 28:27)

@Kazibácsi קֻ֚ם קַדֵּ֣שׁ אֶת־הָעָ֔ם וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ הִתְקַדְּשׁ֣וּ לְמָחָ֑ר כִּ֣י כֹה֩ אָמַ֨ר יְהוָ֜ה אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל חֵ֤רֶם בְּקִרְבְּךָ֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֣א תוּכַ֗ל לָקוּם֙ לִפְנֵ֣י אֹיְבֶ֔יךָ עַד־הֲסִירְכֶ֥ם הַחֵ֖רֶם מִֽקִּרְבְּכֶֽם׃ (Yehoshua 7:13)

@Dr.Shmuel יְהַלְל֤וּ ׀ אֶת־שֵׁ֬ם יְהֹוָ֗ה כִּֽי־נִשְׂגָּ֣ב שְׁמ֣וֹ לְבַדּ֑וֹ ה֝וֹד֗וֹ עַל־אֶ֥רֶץ וְשָׁמָֽיִם׃ (Tehillim 148:13)

@Dr.Shmuel חֲדָשִׁים֙ לַבְּקָרִ֔ים רַבָּ֖ה אֱמוּנָתֶֽךָ׃ (Eicha 3:23)

FWIW 'Minhag HaYeshivos' in Israel is to significantly abbreviate the selichot during aseret yemei teshuvah, as well as many of the piyyutim during chazarat hashatz of yamim noraim. I assume this practice is based on the principle discussed in your question.